The Goose Shot By An Arrow

Formerly Known As, And Seen Below, As The Skunk Whisperer

The following story occurred in Oklahoma when Ned Bruha was working there several years ago. It
provides some interesting
insight into how susceptible wildlife is to being injured by their human counterparts, and
just how difficult a "wild goose chase" really is.
Ned Bruha and his team worked together to
help catch this poor goose that had been shot by an arrow. Once caught it
was transported to wildlife rehabilitator Annette King for recovery, and to
be released again into the wild at a later date.

The Story Behind The Elusive Canada Goose With An Arrow Through Its Chest

A wild Canada goose was discovered in a suburban area with an arrow shot through its chest.
After several capture attempts failed, Bruha and his team joined the mission to help remedy the difficult situation.

After 40 minutes of
chasing and coaxing, the goose was finally caught and
transported to wildlife rehabilitator Annette King at Wild Heart Ranch (WHR).
The goose was worked on by the WHR staff and named "Target". Target healed very quickly
and is in perfect health, living a normal life.
An anonymous person inquired several
times about the goose.

Eventually, a few anonymous donations were mailed to WHR from the zip code where
the goose was shot and rescued - Ned Bruha says "thank you" to the donor,
who may or may not have been involved with the shooting ...

Many people call The Wildlife Whisperer, Inc., about injured geese.
Most injured goose calls take many hours of time and literally turn into "wild goose chases",
only further jeopardizing the goose's health. If the geese are faster than we are,
which they usually are, it simply cannot be taken to a rehabber.
Most nuisance goose problems are caused by humans feeding them,
therefore advocating them to appear in large numbers.

In this particular instance, the goose had been shot through the chest and was in a
hazardous predicament with a wound that would eventually take its toll.
Once Ned Bruha became aware of the situation, his office immediately
sent a team led by Ned Bruha.

Normally, a proper injured goose capture takes a dozen people,
special equipment and hours of time, Single geese can be as tough
to capture as greased pigs, but the team had a better chance of capturing
this one because it would be slowed down by the arrow.
As it turned out, the team had to chase the goose around for 40 minutes before
catching it, so the arrow ended up not slowing the goose down much at all.

Once captured, the arrow was cut at two points to reduce additional trauma to the goose during
its transport to the Wild Heart Ranch wildlife rehab facility. Ned Bruha said "It feels
great knowing that we were able to save an animal's life that day, but it is a shame
that somebody did this to the goose. I am embarrassed to be a member of a species
that would do something as senseless as needlessly shooting this goose and knowingly
allow it to suffer. Wildlife should not be used for target practice".

Thanks to wildlife rehabilitator Annette King-Tucker,
this animal will live to see another day. Ned commented "We salute wildlife rehabilitators
all over the world who have selflessly dedicated their lives to saving the animals
that we place in these situations. Annette is my hero and has made me a better person,
allowing me massive amounts of knowledge, via her experience, to further assist wildlife
in need of rehabilitation. During this "season of giving" please seriously consider donating
funds and supplies to wildlife rehabilitators such as Annette King-Tucker".

Please help support our friends at
Wild Heart Ranch - a 501(c)(3)
wildlife rehabilitation facility. Even the smallest of donations
can help save an animal's life. You can donate above or visit
WildHeartRanch.org to learn more.